Recaps

Madam Shi explained the deadly history and rarity of dragon sinew, while Chu Qing planned how to obtain it and arranged for his pearls to be secretly refined. After Zhao Hongxiu warned him that the fortified villages planned to lure him out and kill him, Chu Qing returned to training and began recuperating with eel soup and secret medicine.

• Madam Shi told Chu Qing that a strand of dragon sinew had caused thousands of deaths in Qinghe County ten years earlier, and Chu Qing considered raising pigs to search for it.
• Chu Qing gave most of his pearls to Madam Shi for secret refining, then reassured Madam Jin and prepared to leave early the next morning.
• The twin Qing Feng divided the gold and silver, and Chu Qing set aside part for Madam Jin to guard and part for Pharmacist Li.
• Zhao Hongxiu warned Chu Qing that Sister Lan and other Fortified Village Disciples planned to meet at Hejiwu and discuss luring him out of the city.
• Chu Qing told his maid to arrange daily eel soup for one hundred days and began practicing his Toad Skill with secret medicine while checking whether training reduced its Promotion Condition.

Chu Qing sent Wang Yinyang to kill He Liu after the He Family’s fortified village was massacred by nine experts. Wang Yinyang returned with He Liu’s head, leaving the other Fortified Village Patriarchs fearful of the unknown attackers.

• Sister Lan and the other Fortified Village Disciples mocked Zhao Hongxiu, Shi Tiezhu, and the other slave-status students as they made them run behind their horses.
• Chu Qing asked his companions who would kill He Liu, and Wang Yinyang volunteered to bring back his head.
• He Liu and the others reached the He Family’s fortified village and found its residents dead, including the He Family Head; the Fortified Village Patriarchs reported that nine experts had carried out the massacre.
• The Fortified Village Patriarchs left, worried that the attackers could strike them next, while Sister Lan and the other disciples rode away.
• Wang Yinyang confronted He Liu and, saying Chu Qing wanted his head, killed him and took it with him.

Chu Qing cultivated the Toad Skill, learned that it replenished his foundation, and planned to seek more Bright Pearls and a sword-nurturing technique. After receiving Tang Wuming’s letter from the Eight Hundred Li Water Plain, he offered supplies in exchange for help finding dragon sinews and warned that he would destroy every fort if necessary to obtain what he wanted.

• Wang Yinyang returned with He Six’s head, frightening Sister Lan and the other Fortified Village Disciples; Zhao Hongxiu argued that they should give Chu Qing the Bright Pearls, but Sister Lan refused.
• Chu Qing’s Toad Skill cultivation reduced its Bright Pearl requirement, and he resolved to seize another fortified village for more pearls.
• Chu Qing concluded the Toad Skill repaired depletion and strengthened his foundation, then planned his training and a visit to the Library Pavilion for a sword-nurturing method.
• Chu Qing read Tang Wuming’s letter about joining the Rebel Army and recruiting fishermen, then replied asking him to search for unusual fish sinews and warning that he would wipe out the remaining forts to obtain Bright Pearls and a Mysterious Great Tendon.
• Chu Qing sent Pharmacist Li a letter authorizing Tang Wuming’s messenger to take Marching Pills and Hemostasis Powder; the messenger loaded several crates and set out for the Eight Hundred Li Water Plain.

Chu Qing learned how secret transmissions strengthened martial artists and their descendants, then recruited a frightened Senior Student by offering her daily Limit-Breaking Secret Medicine. He left her making specially tempered pearls as he prepared to test whether a martial artist’s Qi and Blood could produce superior ones.

• Chu Qing read that perfected secret transmissions nourished the body, improved the chance of forging the Heaven-Connecting Path, and could enhance descendants’ martial aptitude.
• Chu Qing found the Sword-Nourishing Method and took it, along with two other books, to study later.
• Chu Qing confronted the Senior Student over the registration fee; she confessed to keeping one thousand taels and begged to become his follower, so he gave her secret medicine and hired her.
• Chu Qing’s new follower and other Inner Court disciples considered the advantages of serving him, while some Fortified Village disciples resented her choice.
• Chu Qing gave the Senior Student instructions for tempering pearls with Qi and Blood, and she began making four so he could test whether her martial foundation produced top-grade pearls.

Chu Qing and his companions wiped out the Yang Family Fortified Village, seized its luminous pearls, and used secretly refined pearls to strengthen their group. After one pearl produced three golden sinews instead of the expected two, Chu Qing left the group eager for another raid but insisted they wait until night.

• Senior Student watched Chu Qing cultivate through the night and, despite her exhaustion, tried to keep up before falling asleep.
• Chu Qing, Cui Moyang, Wang Yinyang, and the twins raided Yang Family Fortified Village, killing its defenders and the Yang Family Head.
• Cui Moyang prioritized luminous pearls while the twins gathered valuables, and the group returned to Stone Rock County with over thirty pearls and three carts of gold and silver.
• Chu Qing revealed that one of four secretly refined pearls was top-grade, then let Cui Moyang, Wang Yinyang, and the twins choose pearls at random.
• Wang Yinyang and the twins gained two golden sinews each, while Cui Moyang gained three.
• Mingyue urged Chu Qing to attack another fortified manor immediately, but Chu Qing said they should wait for night.

The fortified village patriarchs discovered that Chu Qing had seized the He and Yang family quarries to obtain Stone Bamboo Pearls, and arranged to negotiate with him. Chu Qing visited Madam Jin, revealed that he had destroyed both families for their pearls, and left her overwhelmed with joy.

• The fortified village patriarchs learned that Chu Qing's forces had taken over the He and Yang quarries and recruited thousands of workers to mine pearls.
• The patriarchs agreed to invite Chu Qing to negotiate at Immortal Fate Tower, while preparing to destroy him if talks failed.
• Chu Qing visited Madam Jin and practiced reading and writing with her, while Xiao Taohong kept watch outside the study.
• Madam Jin gave Chu Qing three pearls from Madam Shi, and Chu Qing asked her to have several more secretly processed.
• Chu Qing told Madam Jin he had wiped out the He and Yang families because they would not give him their pearls, and she wept with joy at his success.

Chu Qing rejected a pearl trade negotiated by his companions and ordered the fortress clans to hand over pearls without compensation. The clan heads debated whether to attack him after he left, but hesitated over the cost and risk.

• Madam Jin recalled how Jin Yiren had been suppressed and lost his household registration, and Chu Qing agreed that killing enemies could deter opponents.
• The heads of the fortress clans invited Chu Qing to Immortal Fate Tower, where Nangong and Ximen negotiated a deal of five sticks of Golden Incense for six pearls.
• Chu Qing arrived, tore up the signed contract, and explained that the group should take the pearls without giving the fortress clans resources that could strengthen them.
• Chu Qing demanded twenty-five pearls from each of the thirty-four clans by noon the next day, followed by one pearl every ten days, threatening that clans unable to comply would cease to exist.
• After Chu Qing and his companions left, the fort masters considered ambushing them but weighed the likely losses and decided to think the matter over.

Chu Qing and his companions wiped out another fortified manor, claimed it as a base, and recruited tens of thousands of refugees to mine pearls. The chapter ended when a worker found the first pearl and shouted the news to Master Qing.

• Chu Qing and his companions killed the people at a fortified manor and took its resources, declaring it a new base instead of burning it.
• Head of the House Zhang charged at Chu Qing's group with his guards, but they killed the guards and then killed Zhang when he begged for mercy.
• Chu Qing ordered Nangong, Cui Moyang, and the others to transport grain and cloth to the refugees and recruit workers with generous benefits to mine pearls.
• Chu Qing urged them to buy up to a million sets of tools and use the broken stone to pave roads if there was nowhere else to put it.
• Tens of thousands of refugees began breaking stones by hand to find pearls, and one worker discovered a pearl near noon.

Chu Qing continued cultivating while the fortified village leaders submitted pearls, miners, equipment, silver, and grain after his victories. The fortress lords left Stone Rock County humbled, as Chu Qing’s control over Stone Ridge Mountain and its resources was secured.

• Chu Qing obtained a pearl from mining scraps, and Cui Moyang and the others planned to expand mining and take over the stoneworkers.
• Chu Qing trained at the Martial Academy and agreed to accept the pearls offered by kneeling Fortified Village Disciples without meeting them.
• Chu Qing practiced the Mantis Sword and delegated its time-consuming sword-nurturing method to his maidservants.
• Nangong told Chu Qing that frightened fortress lords had surrendered their pearls, miners, quarrying equipment, silver, and grain after learning that three fortified villages had been destroyed.
• The fortress lords left Stone Rock County humiliated, while Stone Ridge Mountain and its pearls came under Chu Qing’s control.

Chu Qing visited the Black Market to buy Iron Cloth Shirt secret medicine, but found food had become the main commodity after floods and plagues caused shortages. The Number 69 stall owner had the medicine and agreed to consider a trade for food, leaving Chu Qing to offer the supplies in the Yang Family's granary.

• Chu Qing completed the Dragon Subduing Stake's second promotion condition and asked Cui Moyang and the others to save Golden Incense and find Iron Cloth Shirt secret medicine.
• Chu Qing gave Bright Pearls to Madam Jin to have some refined, then left for the Black Market outside Clear Water County.
• Chu Qing saw workers repairing the road between the counties and learned that floods and plagues had caused widespread food shortages.
• Chu Qing found that Black Market vendors were trading food and herbs rather than secret medicine, and no one he asked had Iron Cloth Shirt secret medicine.
• The Number 69 stall owner offered Iron Cloth Shirt secret medicine in exchange for food, and Chu Qing proposed taking him to the Yang Family's granary.

Chu Qing traded grain from the destroyed Yang family fort to Stallholder Number Sixty-Nine for Iron Cloth Shirt secret medicine, then broke the martial art's limit. He arranged another grain trade for 100,000 sets of quarrying tools, while Number Sixty-Nine realized Chu Qing was likely responsible for the fort's destruction.

• Chu Qing took Stallholder Number Sixty-Nine to the Yang family fort and showed him its vast store of grain.
• Number Sixty-Nine returned with carts and men, and gave Chu Qing Iron Cloth Shirt secret medicine in exchange for permission to haul grain.
• Chu Qing swallowed the secret medicine, bought another hundred portions from Number Sixty-Nine, and used them with pearls to break the Iron Cloth Shirt's limit.
• After Number Sixty-Nine's men loaded the carts, Chu Qing offered more grain in exchange for 100,000 sets of quarrying tools delivered to Stone Ridge Mountain.
• Chu Qing told Number Sixty-Nine to search the fort for hidden gold and silver to fund the purchase, and Number Sixty-Nine suspected Chu Qing had destroyed the Yang family fort.

Chu Qing’s growing power drew attention as he sent supplies to Tang Wuming and prepared to challenge for the stone tower’s second floor. When warned that wealthy families and influential nobles might scheme against him, he dismissed the threat.

• Chu Qing left Number Sixty-Nine to deal with the Yang family, and Number Sixty-Nine gathered news of Chu Qing’s victories before reporting him to the Armored Soldier Sect.
• Tang Wuming received Chu Qing’s letter and crates of medicine, then wrote back with questions about leading and strengthening his followers.
• Tang Wuming’s companions celebrated the medicines, while he suspected Chu Qing had arranged the fish-tendon trade to help him discreetly.
• Chu Qing spent ten days practicing the Dragon Subduing Stake and, as the month neared its end, agreed to challenge for the stone tower’s second floor.
• The Senior Student warned Chu Qing that county families, influential nobles, and gentry might try to suppress him, but Chu Qing scoffed at the idea.

Chu Qing prepared for the Stone Tower challenge while anticipating unrest and conserving medicine, then sent Tang Wuming a long letter filled with political advice. Meanwhile, powerful families in Stone Rock County plotted to kill or subdue Chu Qing and chose him as a test for their younger generation, dismissing his chances of rising in the prefectural city.

• Chu Qing dismissed Senior Student’s concerns about the powerful nobles and trusted his strength, which included two hundred Golden Sinews.
• Chu Qing answered Tang Wuming’s questions with a lengthy letter of political strategies but refused to send medicine, which he wanted to save for the coming turmoil.
• Martial artists ambushed Tang Wuming’s messenger and demanded the letter Chu Qing had sent.
• A group of young nobles debated Chu Qing and arranged an ambush, while one radiant young woman argued against killing him.
• The young nobles’ families decided to send one Blood and Flesh Realm expert each to test their descendants against Chu Qing.
• The radiant young woman urged her father to recruit Chu Qing, but he insisted Chu Qing was dangerous and could never gain a foothold in the prefectural city.

Chu Qing sensed an assassination ambush, evaded his pursuers, and followed a dangerous expert to a suspicious tavern before returning safely to the Martial Academy. Meanwhile, Ximen arranged for a Fortified Village Disciple to fight Chu Qing the next day, and noble clan youths arrived to see that disciple.

• Chu Qing felt killing intent near the Martial Academy, returned to collect his Two-handed Greatsword, and then headed toward Madam Jin's Residence.
• Chu Qing sensed an ambush, slipped into an alley, and lost the martial wanderers and noble clan pursuers.
• Chu Qing secretly followed Qin Ming to a tavern, found the backyard strangely silent, and left without confronting him; afterward, Qin Ming departed and Pretty Widow sent a gray pigeon flying.
• Chu Qing returned to the Martial Academy, bathed, and sent the maidservants away so he could cultivate.
• Ximen assigned Fortified Village Disciples to challenge him the next day and told one disciple that Chu Qing would choose him as an opponent.
• Several young masters and young ladies from powerful noble clans came to the frightened disciple's door and asked to be let in.

The Vice Principal urged Chu Qing to skip the stone tower challenge because the growing Rebel Army might soon require Inner Court students to fight, but Chu Qing refused to lose time or resources. After Chu Qing and his companions climbed the tower, Xiao Long rose again after Chu Qing’s first strike and charged back into the fight.

• The Vice Principal warned Chu Qing that students above the second floor might soon be sent to suppress the Rebel Army, and advised him to skip the tower challenge.
• Chu Qing argued that delaying would cost him resources and momentum, then persuaded the Vice Principal to let him climb the tower.
• Chu Qing told his companions about the Vice Principal’s warning, and they agreed that fighting the rebels could bring extra resources without slowing their progress.
• Ximen, the twins, Nangong, Wang Yinyang, and Cui Moyang defeated their opponents and successfully climbed the tower.
• Chu Qing challenged Xiao Long and sent him flying with a strike, but Xiao Long got back up and charged at him again.

Chu Qing fought Xiao Long, whose body grew stronger and whose mind seemed to deteriorate, until Xiao Long was taken away for treatment. After finding a bloodied diary in Xiao Long’s room, Chu Qing investigated the cause and settled into his new second-floor room, where he and his allies discussed recruiting followers before Lan Yichen arrived.

• Chu Qing repeatedly kicked Xiao Long, noticing that Xiao Long’s physical strength kept increasing while his gaze grew hollow, until Xiao Long blocked a kick and tried to bite him.
• The Vice Principal carried Xiao Long away, declared that Chu Qing had passed the tower ascent, and allowed the ascent to continue.
• Chu Qing and his allies searched Xiao Long’s room and found a diary whose final pages were smeared with blood and called for Chu Qing and others to be killed.
• Chu Qing told his allies to investigate who had met Xiao Long the previous day, then had his belongings moved into his larger second-floor room.
• Chu Qing and his allies learned about the second floor’s improved benefits and follower slots, and Chu Qing urged them to use those slots to build alliances.
• Lan Yichen of the Lan Family of Fortified Village knocked and introduced himself to Chu Qing.

After ascending the stone tower, Chu Qing gained the right to choose attendants, and Fortified Village Disciples rushed to secure the valuable positions. Lan Lan and Zhao Hongxiu agreed to become his attendants, while Shi Tiezhu struggled to understand how far Chu Qing had surpassed him.

• Lan Yichen asked Chu Qing to accept Lan Lan as an attendant, and Chu Qing agreed while saving the remaining slots for other purposes.
• Chu Qing told his maids to choose another maid and asked them to find Zhao Hongxiu to offer her an attendant position.
• An older student told Sister Lan and the other Outer Court students that the new Inner Court disciples had all reached the tower's second floor and could choose attendants who received daily resources.
• Lan Yichen told Lan Lan that Chu Qing had accepted her, then rebuked her for calling him a mud-legged peasant and said her attendant slot had cost the family more than thirty thousand taels.
• Chu Qing's maid found Zhao Hongxiu and invited her to become his attendant; Zhao Hongxiu accepted, and Lan Lan joined her on the trip to see Chu Qing.
• Lan Yichen celebrated as the women left, while Shi Tiezhu wondered how Chu Qing had risen so far that both Sister Lan and Zhao Hongxiu would serve him.

Chu Qing arranged Zhao Hongxiu, Sister Lan, and the maids’ duties while Stone Rock County grew more threatened by the Rebel Army. After completing Dragon Subduing Stake’s training requirements, he learned the conditions for promoting the skill and prepared to leave seclusion.

• Chu Qing assigned Zhao Hongxiu to handle his affairs and told Sister Lan to follow her guidance, while promising both women resources and martial arts for good work.
• Chu Qing instructed the oval-faced maid to teach a new aloof maid about secret medicines, incense, and ointments, then tasked Zhao Hongxiu and Sister Lan with supervising the quarry and protecting his pearls.
• Cui Moyang and the Vice Principal made little progress investigating Xiao Long’s abnormality as reports revealed Rebel Army activity around Stone Rock County and a coming mission for the new students.
• Sister Lan competed with the maids to serve Chu Qing, while Zhao Hongxiu advanced quickly by cultivating two Iron Sinews a day.
• Chu Qing lit one hundred sticks of Golden Incense, swallowed Incense Cloud, and fulfilled Dragon Subduing Stake’s second condition.
• The Profession Slot revealed that Dragon Subduing Stake had reached Perfection and required ten pearls, one hundred portions of Universal Secret Medicine, and one hundred enemies slain with Dragon Subduing for promotion.

Chu Qing cultivated Dragon Subduing Stake to Perfection and joined the Vice Principal’s investigation into the Rebel Army’s secret medicine. After testing the drug’s effects on Xiao Long, he and the others chose a mission at Stone Ridge Mountain, where they hoped to obtain Bright Pearls.

• Chu Qing used secret medicine and Golden Incense to cultivate all seventy Iron Sinews of Dragon Subduing Stake, bringing his total to 332.
• The Vice Principal summoned Chu Qing and the others, revealing that Xiao Long had taken a lifespan-burning secret medicine and been hypnotized.
• The Vice Principal said the Qin Family and other powerful families had supplied Xiao Long with the medicine and asked the group to investigate their links to the Rebel Army.
• Chu Qing rejected an investigation mission and asked for a chance to fight enemies, so the group chose the Stone Ridge Mountain mission instead.
• Chu Qing and the others sparred with Xiao Long and found that his wounds healed rapidly, his bones rejoined, and at least fifty Golden Sinews were needed to break his bones.

Chu Qing strengthened the Secret Transmission Toad Skill by breaking its limits, then learned from Madam Shi that the formidable Zheng Zhixiang would come to Stone Rock County after Qinghe County fell. The chapter left Chu Qing facing a dangerous enemy whose forces Madam Shi could not fully stop.

• Chu Qing told Cui Moyang and the others to accept the Stone Ridge Mountain mission and investigate the Rebel Army, while he planned to visit Madam Jin's Residence.
• At Madam Jin's Residence, Chu Qing swallowed ten ordinary Limit-Breaking Secret Medicines and used more than sixty pearls to break the Toad Skill's limits, bringing his major sinews to 340 and allowing his Spirit and Energy to recover rapidly.
• Madam Shi warned Chu Qing that Zheng Zhixiang, whose nephew Chu Qing had killed, would come to Stone Rock County after Qinghe County was breached.
• Madam Shi said Zheng Zhixiang had reached the Pelt Realm, but claimed she could still defeat him; she warned Chu Qing that she could not stop his heavy-armored guards and urged him to prepare an escape route.

Chu Qing prepared for the Rebel Army’s advance by arranging a tunnel and refuge for Madam Jin, then went to Stone Ridge Mountain to confront quarry workers suspected of stirring up rebellion. He threatened three sturdy men with execution if their account differed from the workers’, leaving them sweating over whether to tell the truth.

• Madam Shi warned Chu Qing that the Rebel Army aimed to seize Stone Cauldron Prefecture, but Chu Qing resolved to use Martial Academy intelligence to fight the rebels instead of fleeing.
• Madam Jin gave Chu Qing more than thirty specially refined Bright Pearls, which he swallowed to forge his golden tendons until he had three hundred.
• Madam Jin refused Chu Qing’s offer to send her to the prefectural city, so he proposed digging a tunnel and preparing a hidden refuge on Stone Ridge Mountain.
• Fatty Jin urged Madam Jin to flee toward the Imperial Capital, but she refused and said he could not protect her as well as Chu Qing could.
• At the Stone Ridge Mountain quarry, Chu Qing identified three sturdy workers suspected of inciting rebellion and warned them he would cut them down if their answers conflicted with the other workers’ accounts.
• The three men hesitated between telling the truth and repeating their prepared lie, fearing both Chu Qing and the Chief Subordinate behind them.

Chu Qing crushed unrest at the quarry with his greatsword and warned Zhao Hongxiu that a more dangerous Rebel Army leader, Zheng Zhixiang, would arrive within a month. Meanwhile, Cui Moyang and the other clan scions slaughtered Rebel Army soldiers in the bamboo forest and continued their search.

• Chu Qing questioned three burly men and learned they had urged the quarry workers to resist over wages, meals, and working conditions, then killed them when they fled.
• Chu Qing killed a worker who challenged him and threatened the quarry workers until they returned to work and stopped making trouble.
• Zhao Hongxiu gathered two to three hundred suspected Rebel Army members, whom Chu Qing allowed to disperse while ordering her and Lan Lan to watch them.
• Chu Qing told Zhao Hongxiu that Zheng Zhixiang would arrive within a month and that he wanted enemies to fight for training.
• Cui Moyang, Wang Yinyang, and the other clan scions killed armored soldiers in the bamboo forest and continued searching for the Rebel Army.

Chu Qing prepared an escape route and persuaded the Vice Principal to reveal suspected Rebel Army hideouts, then led his companions to investigate a tavern tied to the Qin Family. The chapter ended with Rebel Army members inside the tavern discovering Martial Academy students had surrounded them.

• Chu Qing built a bamboo house by a secluded lake as a place to hide Madam Jin if Stone Rock County fell.
• The Vice Principal gave Chu Qing and the others a list of suspected Rebel Army hideouts, warned them about fortified villages and the Qin Family, and supplied Nourishing Paste.
• Chu Qing identified the tavern where he had nearly been ambushed as a possible Rebel Army hideout and decided to investigate it with his companions.
• Chu Qing asked the Fortified Village Disciples to join the hunt, promising rewards for cooperation and threatening those who refused.
• Chu Qing and his companions entered the tavern while armed men inside prepared to attack; one man went out to send a warning but retreated after spotting students surrounding the building.

Chu Qing interrogated the innkeeper and learned that she was a Minor Leader of Imperial Brocade, while Qin Ming was her recruited external member and the Qin Family had no known ties to the Rebel Army. He had her send Qin Ming a coded summons, then chained her and the others in the back courtyard as they waited for him.

• Chu Qing and his companions surrounded the innkeeper and questioned her about Qin Ming and her ties to the Rebel Army.
• The innkeeper revealed that she belonged to Imperial Brocade, but Chu Qing forced her to kneel despite the organization’s authority.
• The innkeeper said Qin Ming was an external member she had recruited as a lover, and that her intelligence showed no Rebel Army connection to the Qin Family.
• Chu Qing ordered the innkeeper to summon Qin Ming, then called in the Fortified Village Disciples.
• Chu Qing had the group bound and personally secured the innkeeper with iron chains, while she silently vowed revenge.

Chu Qing accused the Qin Family of treason and led the Fortified Village Disciples in a bloody raid to avenge their attempt to kill him. He killed the Head of the Qin Family, completing the Dragon Subduing Stake’s third condition.

• Chu Qing silenced the proprietress and persuaded the Fortified Village Disciples to help him destroy the Qin Family.
• Chu Qing rejected Ximen’s warning about the bigger picture and led Cui Moyang and the others to attack the Qin Family estate.
• More than a hundred Fortified Village Disciples stormed the estate while Cui Moyang and the others targeted its experts, and Chu Qing killed stragglers with the Dragon Subduing Stake.
• The Head of the Qin Family learned that Chu Qing had come for revenge and watched his son die in the main hall.
• Chu Qing shattered the Head of the Qin Family’s arms and killed him with a strike to the forehead, completing the Dragon Subduing Stake’s third condition.